With the NBA Finals set to tip off this Thursday, I had to ask myself a few questions.

Questions like: Why do most novice basketball fans think that the Lakers are such a strong and overpowering team?

Growing up in Chicago, I always had a deep-seated dislike for the Lake Show — but for some reason, my best friend was always a big Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant fan, and over the years, his love for the purple and gold has grown leaps and bounds.

I had a conversation with this friend over the weekend, and I told him that it's going to be tough for L.A. to compete with Boston because of the strength of Boston's bigs. I told him that there is no way that Lamar Odom, Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum can bang down low in the acrylic with cats like Kevin Garnett, Kendrick Perkins and even Glen Davis, for that matter.

Some Lakers supporters say that Kobe and the crew are on a mission because of what happened two years ago. Well, if that’s the case, then the Celtics should be looking for revenge, too, because they may have made it to the Finals last season if it weren’t for a KG injury.

Either way you look at it, I think it's hard to pick the Lakers. Granted, they do have quite possibly the best player in all of basketball, but seriously, basketball is a team sport — and the Green embody the true meaning of "team." Just like Doc Rivers said in his raspy voice in the fourth quarter against Cleveland, "We can do this … but we have to do it together."

That pretty much sums up how I feel about the Finals this season. The Celtics are a team on a mission, and they are the only ones who can get in their way. I'm going to go out on a limb and be a bit braver than most of the prognosticators out there — I'm going to take the Celtics in five. I say they win the first game at the Staples Center, drop Game 2 (and pretty bad), then they will come home to the Hub and take care of business.

It may be a bit far fetched, but like KG said two years ago, ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE!